Culture :: Church :: Jesus :: Life
This dude was a weapon. If you don’t know about Jim Elliot, you should, and his story will blow your mind. His life was the complete opposite of the American dream. Dude’s passion for Jesus was stronger in middle school than most Pastors I know.
Pick up Shadow of the Almighty, but be warned, Elliot was HARDCORE.
Red Letter : God is Our Strength
Most hardcore song I have ever heard played in a church service.
If you missed Part 1 , 2 or 3.
4. Do everything you must to see them humbly confident in Jesus, not themselves.
Young guns are confident. But we are not humble. By God’s grace the elders have been like a concrete wall that I run into for my pride and self worship to get annihilated. These guys call me to the mat about my pride, plans and talent all the time, and I love them for it. We need to see what humble confidence in Jesus looks like.
Don’t be mistaken. I am not saying humility = cowardice. Jesus is alive, on the throne, and the harvest is plentiful. You better do something, just don’t trust your effort and talent, trust Christ.
3. Open your lives to them.
Simply watching the lives of the elders, and especially their families, has been amazing at Mar Hill. These dudes really love their families and seeing the Gospel applied in their homes is huge.
We are deadly serious about this: “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (1Timothy 3:4)
I just got word about 2 minutes ago that a friend of one of the College Mission CG leaders became a Christian last night!
By God’s grace several people have become Christians in the Community Groups of the College Mission this quarter. Pray for more!
If you missed Part 1 or Part 2…
6. Model repentance and a Gospel centered life.
Sometimes there can be an awkward tension when it comes to who and when you confess sin as a leader. Young Guns need to see what this looks like. I am amazed continually at the humility, confession of sin and repentance among the elders when I am with them.
We minister out of our life, not out of theory. Paul kept his story in front of people to model the transforming work of the Gospel. He revealed his struggles and temptations. If Paul the Apostle lead like this, how can we think we should be any different?
Religious leaders don’t repent because their righteousness is in their performance and reputation. Gospel centered leaders repent because their righteousness is from Jesus’ righteousness and reputation.
Preaching repentance and not modeling repentance is atrocious. Rising leaders must be Christians who repent of sin all the time, and do so in community. Far too often mentors talk about the Gospel, but don’t live the Gospel and confess sin to those they are leading.
5. Bring them with you to the darkest counseling situations, to see Jesus work through the Gospel.
I have had the privilege to sit with the Pastors at Mars Hill Ballard as we walk with people through the hardest stuff in life. Seeing people set free from demonic lies and enslaving sin has been one of the best parts about my job. Young Guns need to see that the Gospel is the power of God, not their winsomeness, or their methods, the Gospel.
Young Guns need to be broken for the people they are leading. There is no quicker road to being seasoned, than to walk with God’s people through the hard stuff. God has become huge and more satisfying to me as I point people to him. He has become more trustworthy to me as I expand on his faithfulness to others. Jesus has become more gracious to me as I have pleaded with people to see that he can cleanse us from the filth of sin. He has become more worthy to me as I call people to behold him.
Red Letter : Led to the Slaughter
Get this song and the rest of the FREE Sampler EP from Resound.org until June 11th.
Picked this up tonight.
Just taking Genesis 1:26 more seriously.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Content Looks Promising:
-Overcome the desire for comfort
-Make wooden and stone knives
-Conduct the “Universal Plant Edibility Test”
-Catch and eat insects
-Making spears
-Capture amphibians and reptiles
-Clean a snake (to eat) YES!
-Make a trip-string deadfall trap (Are you serious!?)
-Skin and butcher small and large game
-Make an Australian poncho raft
-Signal aircraft with your body (I think I know where this one is going…)
